RFK Jr. Promises to Reveal the 'Cause' of Autism Next Month

Summary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is apparently about to solve a mystery that countless doctors and researchers have failed to crack. This week, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and longtime vaccine skeptic teased that he will reveal the cause(s) of autism spectrum disorder next month. Kennedy made the claim during President Donald Trump’s lengthy cabinet meeting Tuesday. After being prompted by Trump, RFK Jr. stated that his agency will announce having found “certain interventions” that are “clearly almost certainly causing autism” in a report set to come out in September. Kennedy has previously argued that childhood vaccines are responsible for autism—a link unsupported by the vast majority of relevant studies. RFK Jr’s antivax wild goose chase For more than 20 years, RFK Jr. has repeatedly spread misinformation about vaccines, which has included blaming certain vaccines or vaccine ingredients for triggering autism. Kennedy has been less overt about making this claim recently. But during the congressional meetings to vet his nomination for HHS chief held in late January, Kennedy pointedly refused to say that vaccines do not cause autism and cited a widely criticized study as credible evidence for a potential connection. In March, Reuters reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be tasked with reexamining whether vaccines cause autism; later that month, HHS changed tack and appointed a notorious anti-vaccination proponent, David Geier, to lead the study. In April, RFK Jr. announced that HHS would launch a series of studies aimed at uncovering the “environmental toxins” purportedly responsible for rising rates of reported autism cases, with results expected by September. Why there’s nothing to find Autism is a complicated condition in general, and many cases are likely triggered by a mix of genetic and environmental influences, rather than a single cause. To be perfectly clear, though, dozens of studies over the years haven’t found evidence t...